Power driven chain saws are very dangerous to use, particularly for the tens of thousands of new users cutting firewood. The user of a bar type chain saw will often hold the saw either too close or too far from the wood being cut, or otherwise cutting in an unsafe position, because he wants to avoid setting the saw down and moving himself or the workpiece (wood) to a safer and better position for cutting.
A very large number of chain saws are now being used. In the United States and Canada in 1979 combined sales for both countries of gasoline powered chain saws were No. 2,940,999; while estimated electric powered chain saw sales were 800,000. Most of these were for bar type chain saws.
The art prior to the invention herein also shows that chain saw accidents occur primarily with the millions of new users of chain saws cutting firewood. In California in 1979, for example, there were only about one percent of the accidents with professional chain saw users, while about ninety-nine percent of the accidents were with the occasional firewood cutter.
The United States Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, in their publication "Cutting Firewood on the National Forests in California", issued in 1980, emphasizes the dangerous propensities in using a chain saw as follows:
"Safe handling of your chain saw is essential. Injuries in California rose from 13,000 in 1971 in 1971 to 53,000 last year, due mainly to increased woodcutting by people inexperienced in using a chain saw."
Extrapolating this data shows over 500,000 users in the United States alone are injured yearly in chain saw accidents. These accidents occur primarily with users not safely positioning each piece of wood before cutting.
There has been no structure with an object or function in any prior art in bar type chain saws, or attachments thereto, to combine a means with the chain saw so that the chain saw may also be used as a positioning tool for moving, pushing, or pulling objects out of the way; or for moving, pushing, or pulling a workpiece, such as firewood, into a better position before cutting the workpiece with the chain saw.